Appeared! Inui's Juice Deluxe! - (Ep 23)

Taiya was still confused to why she saw Eiji and Momo rushing over towards the taps before collapsing to the ground, motionless. She questioned Fuji about it, but he just smiled and shook his head.

"They just got some....punishment," he mused, smiling at the forms on the ground get carried away to the benches to rest. Taiya sweat-dropped.

"Ehh...."

Eiji and Momo woke several minutes later after having water splashed onto their faces.

"Okay! Regulars, gather 'round now," commanded Tezuka acrossthe courts.

His arms were folded and his face was as serious as ever. The usual Tezuka-buchou look.

"There are 9 days before the Prefectural/Provincial tournaments begin. From today on, the Regulars will practice with a special training menu," he said. "A rally match with limitations to where the ball can land. It's known as Zone Practice."

"Eh? Sounds interesting!" Eiji exclaimed, while Taiya agreed, slapping him a low five without the both of them taking their eyes off the Captain.

Inui walked up in front of the white board on the tennis court. "The differences between the Regulars' play styles are as follows:"

"Counter Puncher, who stay at the baseline and waits for opponent's misses with stable strokes. Kaidoh, Fuji, Oishi."

"Agressive Baseliner, who also stay at the back line but fiercely attacks. Kawamura, Momoshiro."

"Serve and Volley, who has talents in both speed and reflexes centered on net play. Kikumaru."

"And Tezuka and Echizen are All-Rounders, who use different techniques in order to maximize their overall strength." Inui finished, tapping the board with a fine rod. This information was taken into each of the Regular's with extra thought and consideration.

"W-wait a minute. Then, what am I?" Taiya asked, putting her hand up. Inui looked thoughtful for a while, placing his hand on his chin.

"Hmm, technically I guess you would be labeled as a Serve and Volley player since you and Kikumaru have similar playing characteristics, with your speed and footwork. But at the same time you have displayed some skills in the criteria of a Counter Puncher seeing as you are analyzing opponents you've never played before...you're not particularly aggressive on court (note the 'on court'), so you are definitely not an All Rounder," Inui said slowly, flipping through pages of his green data book.

Everyone waited in baited silence to hear what Taiya was. Inui thumped his fist into his palm lightly, coming to a conclusion- the first which didn't consist of many calculations.

"You're abnormal."

Taiya fell onto the ground anime style before shooting back up, wailing, "Ehhh?! What do you mean? Are you saying I can't fit into those categories?" while Fuji, Eiji, Momoshiro and even Oishi laughed hysterically, and Echizen smirked ruefully at his senpai.

Inui pushed up his glasses.

"That's not particularly it, but your play style varies against the opponents you face off, for example against Arai, you played it cool and calm, attacking only when you spot the chance. This means that you weren't too troubled. Whenever you are troubled, it makes it a lot harder for you to think calmly about the situation. Fuji and Oishi specialize in staying calm in all situations."

"....Right....?" Taiya stretched out her words, waiting to hear the rest of his explanation. 'Do I serious play like that? I don't even notice this.'

"Against Momoshiro or power-players, you tend to try and use your speed to your advantage, as your power isn't very high. In a slight way you are a Counter Puncher that considers every opportunity to gain a point, but you use your footwork, like acrobatics to Kikumaru, to help you. But unlike Kikumaru, you don't stay near the net, only when you're coming in for a smash because you are short in height."

"Thanks for mentioning that," Taiya drawled sarcastically.

"You are an odd-"

"I get it, I get it! I'm weird and abnormal! I'm a messed up tennis player! I've heard that a few times from...other people before," said Taiya, throwing her hands into the air, annoyed.

Cheeks flushed and jaw clenched, she decided she didn't care about this particular topic any more.

Inui, once again, went into a lapse of thinking. "Your specialities in playing tennis are using your various abilities/strengths to your advantage, much more so than others," Inui stated. "You don't aim for one sort of playing style." Taiya gave a small and twisted smile on those unique features making up her face; just when she thought they would stop.

"What do you mean, Inui?" Taka-san asked, racquet, thankfully, nowhere in sight- yet. The other Regulars were now listening in about their newer team-mate.

"I mean that Sanzushi here has different personalities and playing styles to choose from when facing off opponents," he said robotically. "There's a....."

"Collected and Tactical style. Attacking and returning with stable strokes while analyzing the situation; a playing style that matches Oishi and Fuji's expertised area."

"Counter style. A style which lets you try counter and return as much shots as you can with your reflexes and speed until you can figure out how to take the game or attack- a style which isn't too good for someone like Sanzushi since he's got low stamina."

"And then there's just Adaption. This is when you try to force your body and mind to adapt to the situation and spot out the advantages the opponent has before finding a suitable technique to counter it, or seal it to give you the upper-hand. Sanzushi, you specialize in adapting to different situations more so than others, and that is why you don't have a particular play style."

"Oh, I see. I never noticed that," Taiya said truthfully, blowing a few silky strands of her from her eyes.

"Wait, he's also got the occasional 'I-Don't-Care-What-The-Hell-I'm-Doing-But-I'll-Win-Anyway-By-Playing-However-I-Want' playing style," Fuji smiled innocently as he spoke out his thoughts, making Taiya shoot him a particularly nasty glare. "That is when Tai-kun loses his mind and passiveness and goes on a rampage similar to a mountain boar."

"OOOOH! I saw that style before!" Momoshiro exclaimed, eyes wide with realization, totally oblivious to the fuming Taiya behind him. "It was only, like, a few days ago!"

"Oh, I think I remember it too!"

"BURNING! I REMEMBER IT!! TAICHI-CHAN WAS LIKE KING KONG! GREATO!!"

"Yeah! And that other incident where-"

"CAN YOU GUYS STOP TALKING ABOUT ME LIKE SOME WEIRD, EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL FREAK!!"

Inui coughed lightly into his hand, while Tezuka waited patiently for all peace to return. "Anyhow, so Sanzushi can't fit into one category, or All-Rounder, because of that reasoning."

Taiya sighed, slumping down exhaustedly, staring disbelievingly up at Inui.

"This sucks," she finally muttered bitterly, while Fuji and Eiji patted her shoulder in a comforting way. "Inui, please just continue with today's training schedule; I don't want to talk about my 'abnormalness' no more."

Inui nodded. "This time, Counter Puncher and Serve and Volley, these are Oishi, Fuji, Kaidoh and Kikumaru. They will guard the entire side of their court. Aggressive Baseliner and All-rounder- Kawamura, Momoshiro, Echizen and Tezuka- they will attack with only half of theirs. A 5-rally match."

'Then what am I to do? Damn, I made this whole team a lot harder to work in.' Taiya thought unhappily, staring up at the board with a disgruntled expression.

Inui tapped the diagram of a tennis court on the board. 3/4 of the court was shaded in with the whiteboard marker. "Players on defence must return to the shaded part only. If you hit outside the shaded part, you lose. As for the attacking players, you will lose if you cannot score a point during the 5-rallies."

Echizen walked up closer with a smirk, his face tilted downwards. "So, all in all, us attackers just need to finish it within 5-rallies, right?" he said in a cocky manner.

"Correct."

Oishi put up a finger knowingly. "On the other hand, the defenders win if they don't lose a point in five rallies, right?"

"Yes!" Inui's glasses suddenly had that familiar white glean shining off them. "On top of that," he held up a glass filled with a sicky, moss-green-coloured substance, letting everyone on the premises see. "If you lose, please drink Inui's Special Vegetable Juice."

His words immediately were taken to affect and were converted into information- information that should be forbidden. Eiji and Kaidoh had blue lines running down their faces as the reminisced about the last time they drank that....thing. Tezuka crossed his arms.

"Okay! Start practicing now!"

Everyone obeyed, but Taiya held back. She prodded the taller boy Manager on the arm. "Um, Inui....which one am I, the attacker or defender?" she asked while in a state of confusion. Inui grinned evilly, making her sweat drop.

"Because of all the trouble you put us into because of your abnormal play, you shall have two matches, one as defender and one as attacker."

"YOU'RE KIDDING!"

-

First up was Taka-san and Kaidoh's match. Inui served the ball so it wouldn't be unfair for either side. Already at the start, Kaidoh used his infamous Snake move while Taka-san was in his Burning Mode. The rest of the Regulars sat on the side lines. Taka-san won when Kaidoh hit the ball out of the half way mark on Taka-san's side of the court.

While Taka-san shouted out weird phrases like "delicious!", "great!", and "victory!", Taiya suddenly pulled a face. Fuji turned to her.

"Hm? What's wrong?"

"I pity him, that's all," she said as she watched Inui walk up behind Kaidoh and handed him a glass of that Juice. Tezuka called out the next match.

"Next! Full court, Oishi, Half-court, Momoshiro." Momoshiro smiled at his Vice captain.

"Hello! Please take it easy on me!"

"Same here," Oishi smiled. Suddenly both their eyes widened and their eyebrows raised up when they heard a cry of anguish, pain and much more. Everyone turned to see Kaidoh sprinting towards the door to reach the taps before his steps faltered and he slowed down, hand reaching out towards the door as though it was 'The Light' before he collapsed, unconscious, onto the ground.

"Hey, are you alright?"

"What exactly did he drink?"

"Kaidoh-senpai!"

Fear arised in ever one of the Regulars except for Fuji, who continued to smile as pleasantly as though he had just conquered world poverty with time to spare. Oishi and Momoshiro's eyes narrowed, the same thoughts running through their head, their previous, friendly greeting being erased from mind.

'I can't...I can't afford to lose!'

Oishi and Momo started off well, with Momo placing all his power into his shots. Then he performed his well-known Dunk Smash. Oishi tried to return it, but his racquet was knocked cleanly from his hands.

Oishi smiled as he went to pick up his fallen racquet....but his eyes flew open at the sense of danger behind him.

Taiya, Eiji, Fuji, Momo, and to cut it short, EVERYONE turned to the sound of a horrible, blood-curling shriek let out by none other that Oishi, victim of...the juice. He ran, still yelling in what appeared to be pain, crashing into the cooler and other things before he fell onto the ground, twitching. Fuji was first to say anything.

"Oishi!"

"Oishi!!" Eiji cried. "Hang in there!"

Momoshiro stood there, scratching the side of his head with one finger. "Ehh! That was close, that was close! Good thing I didn't have to drink that!"

"If I were to become a victim due to another person...I really don't know if I can forgive them," muttered Taiya with a sweat-drop and Momoshiro nodded solemnly from beside her.

"Agreed."

Fuji and Tezuka's match ended incredibly quickly, with Tezuka doing his zero-shiki drop. The ball slowly crawled towards the net and Fuji remained smiling despite his loss.

"As expected of Tezuka-buchou, even though his opponent was Fuji-senpai," Momo breathed out as Taiya nodded in agreement. Fuji's eyes were open, and he had a sly smile on his face.

"Just now, you played seriously, didn't you?"

"Of course," Tezuka replied.

"What a shame! It'd have been funny if buchou had to drink that!" Momoshiro whispered to Echizen. Just then, Tezuka's head turned to the duo and Momoshiro immediately stopped talking. Fuji made his way towards Inui, while Eiji and Taiya were leaning against the lower border of the tennis court fences, arms resting on their raised knees.

"Didn't you give up quickly, Fuji?" Eiji said with a smile.

"He probably looks forward to drinking that thing again," Taiya answered airily for Fuji. Fuji's smile got wider.

"Yeah."

"What did I tell you, Eiji?"

Inui held a clear glass with one hand as he tipped the bottle supposedly containing the vile drink near the mouth of the glass. To his surprise, only clear, smooth water emptied itself into the cup. Inui let out a small grunt of surprise, and he turned to check the label of the drink bottle:

TEZUKA

"It says 'Tezuka," Fuji said from a little further away. Fuji, Inui, and Taiya, who had overheard, all turned to the direction of Seigaku's captain. Shock immediately befalled Taiya's face as they saw from the distance Tezuka drinking from the bottle labeled 'INUI'.

Everyone waited in anticipation of the reaction. A choke? Maybe even a never-heard-before scream? A cry of disgust?

Unconsciousness?

Everyone, Momoshiro in particular, made gagging noises. Tezuka finished his long drought with a sigh, and he turned to the eager group. "What are you staring at? Hurry and start the next match!"

Eiji put his hands on his hips, bedazzled. "What the?"

"Unexpectedly, he seems okay..."

"He must have some tough nerves I guess..."

Nobody noticed Tezuka's shaking hand. Inui's eyebrow was twitching. Before they knew it, he had pulled out a glass of opaque but murky brown-green coloured....juice? from no where, showing it to Momoshiro and Taka-san.

"I finished this the other day. With special ingredients," Inui said in a dramatic, wavery tone. "This is Golden Power Remix Inui Juice."

'Aaaaah~! Somebody just played a melody of death~!' smiled Taiya to herself. Fuji and Eiji both knew what that meant; she, who hadn't played her first game yet, had a 50/50 chance of drinking that thing.

"That smile is so pitiful," pouted Eiji at the still-dazed Taiya. "He looks like he's given up on life! Fujiko~! Do something!"

Fuji only let out a disappointed sound. "Lucky him."

Then it was Echizen and Eiji's match, and Eiji looked serious as he twirled his racquet expertly around his wrist.

"I'm never going to drink that, that juice!" he declared confidently. Echizen smirked and their game began. Then Taiya realized something.

"Heh, if Eiji is playing Echizen, and you, Fuji, played Tezuka...Oishi played Momo, Kaidoh went against Taka-san....then who the Heck am I playing against?!" Taiya exclaimed. She gripped the side of her head, shaking it. "Goddammit!!!!!!"

"Calm down, Tai," Fuji said, trying to ease the frustrated Taiya. "I'm sure Inui or sensei has got an idea of who you're to face."

Soon enough, Echizen couldn't end up getting a point to pass Eiji's acrobatic play and lost. Funny how 'lost' doesn't seem as crucial of a thing until Inui Juice pops up. A load groan was heard after Echizen consumed the vile concoction. Then Inui turned to Taiya, who jumped back in shock.

"What?"

"It's your turn."

"Who am I to go against?" Taiya asked, getting her racquet ready. Inui smiled.

"Me." Taiya's eye twitched.

"Going against you is basically asking me to drink that drink with sugar on top," Taiya remarked weakly. Inui walked onto the court.

"You're on the attack now, so you can use only half your court. But..." Inui pushed his glasses back to the bridge of his nose smugly. "There's a 98 percent chance that you will lose this round."

"Well....I'll try my hardest to prove your data wrong," the girl smiled. Ryuzaki-sensei served the ball and Inui slammed the ball towards Taiya. Taiya used a two-handed backhand to return the ball and Inui smirked.

"78 percent you were going to hit to the left," he said, returning the ball. "1 rally."

Taiya grumbled as she headed closer to the front, hitting the ball back towards Inui. Inui had no trouble in returning it. "98 percent chance you were going to hit it to the top-right corner! 2!"

Taiya cursed. Attacking wasn't her strong point, nor was power. She attempted a smash after she out ran Inui to the far left side of her own court, with Inui on the far left side of his own court. She aimed downwards with her racquet.

"C'mon!!"

'3' Taiya's eyes shined. "Is this...a chance?!" She attempted to slice the ball downwards, but Inui being Inui, returned it flawlessly with a fluent movement.

"4!"

"C'mon, Taichi!! One more shot!!" Eiji yelled through his cupped hands.

Ryuzaki-sensei smiled. "His speed has increased due to those weights. And come to think of it....." She then laughed. "He's still got them on! He should have taken them off if he wanted a higher chance of not drinking that Juice. It's his fault for forgetting."

Momoshiro laughed. "Good luck, Tai-senpai!"

-

"Damn you, Data Man," Taiya breathed out. She had lost amiably, leaving herself panting on the ground since she had tried running a lot, but out-running Inui was expectedly hard since he was so tall compared to her- the amount of land he can cover with one stride was probably more than two of Taiya's own.

Inui approached the girl, only to see her shaking violently. "Hmm? What's wrong, Sanzushi?"

"You're actually asking..." said Taiya in disbelief. "I really....won't drink that drink!"

"Drink it, Sanzushi Taichi. It's the rules," Ryuzaki-sensei said sternly.

Everyone watched her down it as fast as possible. Not soon after, she fell to the ground almost lifelessly.

Just when she thought she was going to pass out, Ryuzaki-sensei's voice reached her ears.

"Tai, now it's your turn to defend."

"I c-can't...." she moaned from the ground. Feeling strange nauseous, she found herself swaying as she tried to steady herself, holding her hand to her forehead while slowly making her way to the court.

"Tai-chan, hang in there! Hang in there!" Eiji encouraged. Miraculously, like the story of Jesus healing a mans legs, she walked once again.

"You'll be having the rally match against me." Taiya stared at Ryuzaki-sensei with eyes as round as coins.

"....You're kidding me, right?"

Taiya first held up a hand, halting the process. Everyone watched in silence as she headed towards the entrance/exit of the gate, walked out and endulged herself on the water from the taps where the bodies of Kaidoh, Oishi and Echizen hung around. Fuji smiled.

"It's natural for the weak to do this."

Echizen and Kaidoh shot him dirty looks from the ground, their faces resembling hate. 'Weak?!'

"I'm....r-hic-ready," she implide in a very unconvincing tone since she had a dull flush forming over the bridge of her nose and a bad case of irrelevant hiccoughs.

Everyone watched as Taiya guarded the court defensively like a dog guarding its territory, returning the ball as sharp as she could towards the half court with a serious expression on her face, no smile visible. Momoshiro sniggered into his hand.

"Tai-senpai seriously doesn't want to drink that Juice again," he laughed.

"He's incredibly unlucky, having to do it twice," remarked Oishi as he wiped his mouth on his arm. "That stuff is disgusting."

Ryuzaki-sensei flawlessly returned it with impressive power for someone at her age, and she yelled with each hit rather viciously.

"Hyaaahhh!"

"GOD-hic-DAMMIT!!Taiya gave a two-handed backhand, her aggressive shout almost sounding off her feminine voice. '2 rallies already!'

"Tai-senpai is pretty good at going on the defensive," commented Momoshiro fairly. Inui paused his note taking and looked up, watching the very short rally contest with a passive face.

"Tai doesn't have much of a reason to attack, so he's focusing on his counter-attacking style," Inui informed the surrounding. "As I mentioned before, Tai doesn't have a play style he's fully comfortable with, and instead focuses on adaption; Tai's ability to adapt is higher than the average person." Then he quickly scribbled one last note before saying, "He was always better at the defensive anyway."

'3 rallies.'

"Aa, Tai doesn't only just adapt in tennis too; he's adapting to the lifestyle of Japan pretty well too," said Fuji from beside Momoshiro while Eiji nodded vigorously.

"Now that I think about it, his Japanese is getting really good now," Momoshiro said fairly. "Before it was very...broken."

Eiji nodded furiously. "And he's still good at maths, which is good because he helps me with homework a lot!"

"Eiji-senpai, is any of that relevant to Tai-senpai's play style?"

'4! I better not lose again!'

Sumire hit a tricky shot near the corner, and Taiya's eyes widened in realization; she left the left side of her court unguarded! 'Dammit, why can't I run faster?!'

Taiya jumped while she felt her LEFT hand swing her racquet in a forehand, hitting the ball back over the net. She felt her shoulder impact upon the ground painfully before she rolled, using her right arm to support her.

"Hey, Sanzushi-senpai, you alright?"

"That looked painful, especially for someone as small and fragile as him."

"He's like a princess who needs help from her knight," some people sniggered. Taiya reminded herself to deal with them after school.

Fuji turned and saw Taiya happily jump up, pumping her fist in the air in victory.

"I-hic- don't have to-hic drink that th -hic- ing!! I'm the-hic- happiest -hic- person -hic a-hic- live!! AHAHAHAHA-hic- HAHAHAHA!!!"

"I must admit, you are a good defence player," remarked Ryuzaki-sensei, making Taiya beam. "But your attacking is weak."

Taiya fell over from shock, before hurrying back up, fists clenched in front of her. "I'll-hic- work hard-hic- er then!"

Meanwhile, Fuji walked up to their coach and tapped her on the shoulder with a single, slender finger. She turned around and blinked; poor old lady

"Hmm? What's wrong, Fuji?"

Fuji's smile, if possible, just got wider. "Sumire-chan (1), it's the rules....right?"

The Seigaku coach raised an eyebrow. "What are you talk-"

Inui appeared out of thin air from behind her holding a cup of Golden Remix Inui Deluxe or whatever, and instantly everyone saw her freeze. She forced a laugh, and the Regulars that were still alive- I mean, the Regulars that weren't victims slowly gathered around like ants to something particularly interesting, and Taiya crossed her arms and gave a small smirk. 'Pay back time.'

Ryuzaki-sensei went into a babbling shot of why she shouldn't have to drink the juice, hastily trying to keep her stern composure. By this time, Taiya's smirk had grown a little wider

"Oh. Ryu-hic- zaki-sensei," Taiya said loudly while thumping her chest hard to try stop the flow of interrupting and irksome hiccups. "Didn't you-hic-say your-hic-self that-hic- was th-hic- GODDAM-hic- MIT!!!!" Taiya raged at the annoying hiccups that came out of the blue, throwing a small tantrum as Fuji kindly explained to their coach for her.

"Just like for Tai, it's the rules, right, sensei?"

His face resembled a fox that had out-witted something, a sly and smooth smile growing on his face.

"So you have to drink it, sensei! Or it's not fair....right?" Fuji pressed on in a more mock childish gesture. The old coach gulped, feeling stares all around her before she gave in.

"Alright, I'll drink it. It's the rules, like Fuji kindly reminded me," she said, holding the glass in her hands.

And she slowly lifted the glass near her mouth.....

-

"Ahahahaha! That was hilarious!"

Taiya still erupted into a fit of chuckles at the thought of their coach downing the forbidden death juice. "The first time she actually drank it!"

"Hoi hoi! It was scary! Scary, scary~!" Eiji exclaimed, his big, blue eyes quivering in fear at the mere memory of the incident. Fuji gave a soft and gentle laugh as he focused his attention ahead again.

"Mm, sensei's shriek was quite out-of-the-ordinary, wasn't it?"

Fuji invited Taiya and Eiji into his house, since they were to work on a class assignment together in which they had almost finished, seeing as Taiya had forced them during recess to complete it; China's habits have molded her into this way.

"Ah! We've finished!" Eiji said in relief, throwing down his pen exhaustedly. Taiya followed suit while Fuji went and got some cold drinks.

"Thank you for the drinks!" the two chorused.

"Ah, I can't believe the tournament is in 9 days!" Eiji said, stirring up a conversation. Trust Eiji to do that when it's all silent. Fuji nodded, removing the cup from his lips as he agreed.

"Mm, so then this would be the second tournament Tai will be participating in, eh?" Fuji remarked, earning a vigorous nod from Taiya. Then Eiji and Fuji peered closer at their new friend, who was trembling.

"Tai-?"

"Yeah it's going to be really good I'm sure we'll win," she said at the speed of light. Eiji and Fuji stared at each other, eyebrows raised while Fuji placed a hand on the half-Japanese half-Chinese 'boys' shoulder.

"You alright, Tai? You seem a little...different," he commented worriedly. Taiya glanced him, an incredulous look, flailing her hands wildly.

"Eh what are you talking about I'm normal you're over thinking too much Fuji!" she jabbered. She stood up eruptedly before excusing herself.

"Sorry, need to go to the bathroom."

And they watched as she left without a word. A moment of silence fell over the two best friends before Eiji muttered out, "How could he talk so fast?"

-

"Taiya-chan?" Taiya turned and saw Yumiko smiling down at her, wearing casual clothes that still seemed to look remarkable on her. "Before you go, I'd like to comment on something based on my tarot reading," she admitted while gently pulling Taiya's hand to lead her into her room. "I'm not quite sure, so please sit here with me for a while."

"Uh, sure, Yumiko-san."

Taiya found herself in the same position, Yumiko doing her strange things of tarot reading with cards and other objects. Soon, Yumiko looked up and gave a small smile.

"I guess I was correct. Come here, Taiya-san," Yumiko gestured for Taiya to lean in for her to whisper. "I'll tell you like this just in case someone else hears; it's not good when other people other than the reader know your fate."

Taiya sweat-dropped. 'That sounds nice. I feel awfully reassured now.' "Okay..."

-

"What took you so long?" Eiji asked, pouting. Apparently Fuji and him were already playing cards by now. Taiya gave a sly smile, nodding her head once.

"Yeah, I think I should go now. We've already finished the project and everything, so..." She trailed off awkwardly before packing her possessions back into her bag. "Plus I have to study- my mum'll kill me if I stopped. See ya later guys!"

She had left the Fuji residence and immediately went to her room. Throwing off her beanie, she sighed, "I wonder what Yumiko-san meant....." 'Truth will unravel and hardships shall rise. You do not have a pleasant event coming up, Taiya-chan...'

Taiya sat up again, arms resting limply on the soft bed sheets. Yumiko's voice rang in her ears, repeating itself, yet Taiya still couldn't make up the whole truth of the meaning. Does it mean that she shouldn't participate in the tournament because something'll happen? Taiya pondered about this for a while, before flopping herself back down onto her soft pillows again, closing her eyes and readying herself for sleep.

"Nah, not possible."

----

Corrected in May, 2009.

(1): Sumire-chan was once a pet name Fuji used for Ryuzaki-sensei, which earned him a scolding. ^^

Special thanks to: merissala, mesmart, and G. Rei Lam (and anyone else I missed) for helping me. Life savers you guys are, without you guys, this story would be pretty side-tracked and worst than it probably is now, which isn't good heh -.-''.

Laters. Until next time, maybe.